Jue (vessel)
A jue is a shape of Chinese ritual bronze, a tripod vessel or goblet used to serve warm wine. It was used for ceremonial purposes by the Chinese of the Xia and Zhou dynasties; the jue had a handle, sometimes in the shape of a dragon. It has two protuberances on the top of the vessel, which were used when lifting the vessel out of heat; as with other shapes, the surface may be decorated with taotie. Sing, Yu. Ringing Thunder- Tomb Treasures from Ancient China. San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art. ISBN 0-937108-24-3; the great bronze age of China: an exhibition from the People's Republic of China, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on jues
Tomb of Fu Hao
The Tomb of Fu Hao is an archaeological site at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within the modern city of Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by Zheng Zhenxiang, it was identified as the final resting place of the queen and military general Fu Hao, who died about 1200 BCE and was the Lady Hao inscribed on oracle bones by king Wu Ding and one of his many wives, it is to date the only Shang royal tomb found intact with its contents and excavated by archaeologists. The excavation was conducted by the Anyang Working Team of the Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, after extensive restoration the tomb was opened to the public in 1999. In 1976 Zheng Zhenxiang and her archaeological team were probing the area around Yinxu with a long shovel, called a Luoyang shovel, recovered some samples of red lacquer; the burial pit uncovered titled tomb number 5, is a single pit, 5.6 metres by 4 m, just outside the main royal cemetery. The tomb has been dated to around BCE 1200 and identified, from inscriptions on ritual bronzes, to be that of Fu Hao.
Her tomb, one of the smaller tombs, is one of the best-preserved Shang dynasty royal tombs and the only one not to have been looted before excavation. Inside the pit was evidence of a wooden chamber 5 meters long, 3.5 m wide and 1.3 m high containing a lacquered wooden coffin that has since rotted away. The floor level housed the royal corpse and most of the utensils and implements buried with her. Rare Jade artifacts, such as those of the Liangzhu culture, were collected by Fu Hao as antiques and while some of the bronze artifacts were used by the lady and her household others inscribed with her posthumous name of Mu Xin were undoubtedly cast as grave goods; the artifacts unearthed within the grave consisted of: 755 jade objects 564 bone objects 468 bronze objects, including over 200 ritual bronze vessels, 130 weapons, 23 bells, 27 knives, 4 mirrors, 4 tiger statues. 63 stone objects 11 pottery objects 5 ivory objects 6,900 cowry shells Below the corpse was a small pit holding the remains of six sacrificial dogs, along the edge lay the skeletons of 16 human slaves, evidence of human sacrifice.
There is evidence above ground of a structure built over the tomb that served as an ancestral hall for holding memorial ceremonies. By connecting the jade artifact in the tomb of Fu Hao to much earlier artifact through stylistic and technical analysis, the archaeological context has identified an early collector, a woman who gathered about her artifacts of a much earlier period. Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, from some 800 years the other major royal tomb found intact from this period in China. Website on the tomb 10 minute documentary feature, part 1 of 7
People's Liberation Army
The Chinese People's Liberation Army is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China and its founding and ruling political party, the Communist Party of China. The PLA consists of five professional service branches: the Ground Force, Air Force, Rocket Force, the Strategic Support Force. Units around the country are assigned to one of five theater commands by geographical location; the PLA is the world's largest military force and constitutes the second largest defence budget in the world. It is one of the fastest modernising military powers in the world and has been termed as a potential military superpower, with significant regional defense and rising global power projection capabilities. China is the third largest arms exporter in the world; the PLA is under the command of the Central Military Commission of the CPC. It is obliged to follow the principle of civilian control of the military, although in practical terms this principle has been implemented in such a way as to ensure the PLA is under the absolute control of the Communist Party.
Its commander in chief is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The Ministry of National Defense, which operates under the State Council, does not exercise any authority over the PLA and is far less powerful than the CMC. Military service is compulsory by law. In times of national emergency, the People's Armed Police and the People's Liberation Army militia act as a reserve and support element for the PLAGF. Former CMC chairman Hu Jintao had defined the missions of the PLA as: To consolidate the ruling status of the Communist Party To ensure China's sovereignty, territorial integrity, domestic security to continue national development To safeguard China's national interests To help maintain world peace The People's Liberation Army was founded on 1 August 1927 during the Nanchang uprising when troops of the Kuomintang rebelled under the leadership of Zhu De, He Long, Ye Jianying and Zhou Enlai after the massacre of the Communists by Chiang Kai-shek, they were known as the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, or the Red Army.
Between 1934 and 1935, the Red Army survived several campaigns led against it by Chiang Kai-Shek and engaged in the Long March. During the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, the Communist military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China forming two main units known as the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. During this time, these two military groups employed guerrilla tactics avoiding large-scale battles with the Japanese with some exceptions while at the same time consolidating their ground by absorbing nationalist troops and paramilitary forces behind Japanese lines into their forces. After the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the Communist Party merged the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army, renaming the new million-strong force the "People's Liberation Army", they won the Chinese Civil War, establishing the People's Republic of China in 1949. The PLA saw a huge reorganisation with the establishment of the Air Force leadership structure in November 1949 followed by the Navy leadership the following April.
In 1950, the leadership structures of the artillery, armoured troops, air defence troops, public security forces, worker–soldier militias were established. The chemical warfare defence forces, the railroad forces, the communications forces, the strategic forces, as well as other separate forces, were established on, all these depended on the leadership of the Communist Party and the National People's Congress via the Central Military Commission. During the 1950s, the PLA with Soviet assistance began to transform itself from a peasant army into a modern one. Part of this process was the reorganisation that created thirteen military regions in 1955; the PLA contained many former National Revolutionary Army units and generals who had defected to the PLA. Ma Hongbin and his son Ma Dunjing were the only two Muslim generals who led a Muslim unit, the 81st corps, to serve in the PLA. Han Youwen, a Salar Muslim general defected to the PLA. In November 1950, some units of the PLA under the name of the People's Volunteer Army intervened in the Korean War as United Nations forces under General Douglas MacArthur approached the Yalu River.
Under the weight of this offensive, Chinese forces drove MacArthur's forces out of North Korea and captured Seoul, but were subsequently pushed back south of Pyongyang north of the 38th Parallel. The war served as a catalyst for the rapid modernization of the PLAAF. In 1962, the PLA ground force fought India in the Sino-Indian War, achieving all objectives. Prior to the Cultural Revolution, military region commanders tended to remain in their posts for long periods of time; as the PLA took a stronger role in politics, this began to be seen as somewhat of a threat to the party's control of the military. The longest-serving military region commanders were Xu Shiyou in the Nanjing Military Region, Yang Dezhi in the Jinan Military Region, Chen Xilian in the Shenyang Military Region, Han Xianchu in the Fuzhou Military Region; the establishment of a professional military force equipped with modern weapons and doctrine was the last of the Four Modernizations announced by Zhou Enlai and supported by Deng Xiaoping.
In keeping with Deng's mandate to reform, the PLA has demobilized millions o
Gui (vessel)
A gui is a type of bowl-shaped ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessel used to hold offerings of food mainly grain, for ancestral tombs. As with other shapes, the ritual bronzes followed early pottery versions for domestic use, were recalled in art in both metal and sometimes stone; the shape changed somewhat over the centuries but constant characteristics are a circular form, with a rounded, profile or shape from the side, standing on a narrower rim or foot. There are two, or sometimes four and there may be a cover or a square base; the Kang Hou Gui, an 11th-century BC example in the British Museum was chosen as object 23 in the A History of the World in 100 Objects. The British Museum bowl inscription on the inside of the bowl tells that King Wu's brother, Kang Hou, the Duke of Kang and Mei Situ were given territory in Wei; the inscription relates a rebellion by remnants of the Shang, its defeat by the Zhou, which helps us to date it. Because historians know when this unsuccessful rebellion against the Zhou dynasty took place the bowl can be dated accurately.
"gui." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2012. 06 Feb. 2012. Rawson, Jessica, et al. "China, §VI: Bronzes." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Sing, Yu. Ringing Thunder- Tomb Treasures from Ancient China. San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art. ISBN 0-937108-24-3. Fong, Wen; the great bronze age of China: an exhibition from the People's Republic of China. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0870992260. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list Media related to Gui at Wikimedia Commons The development of the Gui, illustrated by examples in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: 12th century B. C. Shang dynasty 12th–11th century B. C. Shang dynasty late 11th–early 10th century B. C. Western Zhou early 9th century B. C. Western Zhou
Chu (state)
Chu was a hegemonic, Zhou dynasty era state. From King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE, the rulers of Chu declared themselves kings on an equal footing with the Zhou kings. Though inconsequential, removed to the south of the Zhou heartland and practising differing customs, Chu began a series of administrative reforms, becoming a successful expansionist state during the Spring and Autumn period. With its continued expansion Chu became a great Warring States period power, until it was overthrown by the Qin in 223 BCE. Known as Jing and Jingchu, Chu included most of the present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan, along with parts of Chongqing, Henan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Shanghai. For more than 400 years, the Chu capital Danyang was located at the junction of the Dan and Xi Rivers near present-day Xichuan County, but moved to Ying; the ruling house of Chu bore the clan name Nai and lineage name Yan, but they are written as Mi and Xiong, respectively. According to legends recounted in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, the royal family of Chu descended from the Yellow Emperor and his grandson and successor Zhuanxu.
Zhuanxu's great-grandson Wuhui was given the title Zhurong. Wuhui's son Luzhong had all born by Caesarian section; the youngest, adopted the ancestral surname Mi. Jilian’s descendant Yuxiong was the teacher of King Wen of Zhou. After the Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty, King Cheng awarded Yuxiong's great-grandson Xiong Yi with the fiefdom of Chu and the hereditary title of 子. Xiong Yi built the first capital of Chu at Danyang. In 977 BCE, during his campaign against Chu, King Zhao of Zhou's boat sank and he drowned in the Han River. After this death, Zhou ceased to expand to the south, allowing the southern tribes and Chu to cement their own autonomy much earlier than the states to the north; the Chu viscount Xiong Qu overthrew E in 863 BCE but subsequently made its capital Ezhou one of his capitals. In either 703 or 706, the ruler Xiong Tong proclaimed himself king, establishing Chu's full independence from the Zhou dynasty. In its early years, Chu was a successful expansionist and militaristic state that developed a reputation for coercing and absorbing its allies.
Subsequently, Chu grew from a small state into a large kingdom. Under the reign of King Zhuang, Chu reached the height of its power and was considered one of the five Hegemons of the era. After a number of battles with neighboring states, sometime between 695 and 689 BCE, the Chu capital moved south-east from Danyang to Ying. Chu first consolidated its power by absorbing lesser states in its original area it expanded into the north towards the North China Plain. In the summer of 648 BCE, the State of Huang was annexed by the state of Chu; the threat from Chu resulted in multiple northern alliances under the leadership of Jin. These alliances kept Chu in check, the Chu kingdom lost their first major battle at the Chengpu in 632 BCE. During the 6th century BCE, Jin and Chu fought numerous battles over the hegemony of central plain. In 597 BCE, Jin was defeated by Chu in the battle of Bi, causing Jin's temporary inability to counter Chu's expansion. Chu strategically used the state of Zheng as its representative in the central plain area, through the means of intimidation and threats, Chu forced Zheng to ally with itself.
On the other hand, Jin had to balance out Chu's influence by allying with Lu, Song. The tension between Chu and Jin did not loosen until the year of 579 BCE when a truce was signed between the two states. At the beginning of the sixth century BCE, Jin strengthened the state of Wu near the Yangtze delta to act as a counterweight against Chu. Wu defeated Qi and invaded Chu in 506 BCE. Following the Battle of Boju, it occupied Chu's capital at Ying, forcing King Zhao to flee to his allies in Yun and "Sui". King Zhao returned to Ying but, after another attack from Wu in 504 BCE, he temporarily moved the capital into the territory of the former state of Ruo. Chu began to strengthen Yue in modern Zhejiang to serve as allies against Wu. Yue was subjugated by King Fuchai of Wu until he released their king Goujian, who took revenge for his former captivity by crushing and annexing Wu. Freed from its difficulties with Wu, Chu annexed Chen in 479 BCE and overran Cai to the north in 447 BCE; this policy of expansion continued until the last generation before the fall to Qin.
However, by the end of the 5th century BCE, the Chu government had become corrupt and inefficient, with much of the state's treasury used to pay for the royal entourage. Many officials had no meaningful task except taking money and Chu's army, while large, was of low quality. In the late 390s BCE, King Dao of Chu made Wu Qi his chancellor. Wu's reforms began to transform Chu into an efficient and powerful state in 389 BCE, as he lowered the salaries of officials and removed useless officials, he enacted building codes to make the capital Ying seem less barbaric. Despite Wu Qi's unpopularity among Chu's ruling class, his reforms strengthened the king and left the state powerful until the late 4th century BCE, when Zhao and Qin were ascendant. Chu's powerful army once again became successful, defeating the states of Yue. Yue was partitioned between Chu and Qi in either 334 or 333 BCE. However, the officials of Chu wasted no time in their revenge and Wu Qi was assassinated at King Dao's funeral in 381 BCE.
Prior to Wu's service in the state of Chu, Wu lived in the state of We
